Chapter Eleven:
Two weeks had passed and no signs of a possible attack on Bella or Edward. Alice was still clueless about what Victoria's plans were or possibly could be. Jacob was growing frustrated with the wait. Although the nights he spent with Bella made up for it. They explored the island, made love and went for a swim, made love again, came home ate something and took a shower and of course hot steamy sex commence. They couldn't keep their hands off one another.
Jacob noticed Edward was staying away from the love birds. He wasn't sure if he was just trying to be polite and give them privacy or if he was jealous. He noticed how Edward was around Bella. They had conversations about topics that were far out of his league. When they started working on the future of the publishing company he witnesses how the two of them seem in sync. They would laugh and talk about people he knew nothing about. Edward never touches her or got too physically close to her but Jacob had known Edward long enough to see the small slightest change in his personality when it came to Bella. He wasn't sure what to make of it.
Bella was oblivious to the change. She seems closer to Edward but as a friend instead of an employer. Jacob had no doubt that her feelings for Edward were just that in the friend zone and nothing further. He knew this because she looks at Jacob in an entirely different way and it was his name she cried out in their thrusts of lovemaking. It was his hand she reaches for when they were near.
"Where is Bella?" Edward asks as he poured himself a glass of brandy.
"She is sleeping." Jacob answer with a smug smile. He had worn her out good today and he knew with Edwards keen hearing and gift of mind reading he knew just how he did it.
"I see. So I got a call from Alice. She thinks its time to come home. She agrees with my assessment of our stay here is fruitless. When Victoria makes a move she will want somewhere more public. Plus she knows the risks involved in trying to attack us here. She can't escape easily." Edward informs him of his earlier conversation with his adopted sister.
"I've been thinking myself and I think it's time to bring more of my pack into this plan," Jacob announced.
"I thought you didn't want to risk any of them."
"I didn't but things with Bella ….you know it's changed between us and I can't let anything happen to her. I need to know if something should happen to me that I have someone who will do everything they can to protect her and avenge me." Jacob explained his change of heart on the matter.
"Do you not trust me to protect her? I mean, I think you have noticed that I care more about her than just bait. I mean, I know at first I didn't really care that much about her but I've come to know her and I would kill anyone who harms one hair on her head." Edward vowed.
"I do believe you but I need more than a vampire protecting the love of my life. My pack will care for her in a way you can't." Jacob didn't want to insult Edwards kindness but the thought of her with vampires all around her made him nauseated.
"I see." Edward pursed his thin lips together and held back his temper. He knew that Jacob was right not to trust his soulmate with vampires but it still stung his ego that he didn't trust him personally.
"I will make the calls so we can head home." Edward swallows the liquor and walks out of the room with his head held high.
Jacob chewed on the corner of his lip as he thought about how different things would be once they return to the city and to Edwards penthouse. They would have to keep up the charade that Edward and Bella were the happily married couple. He would once again have to stay in the shadows and wait till night when they could be together behind doors.
Pulling out his phone he made his own phone call. It was time to talk to someone who might give him some answers about these strong feelings for Bella and the constant desire he felt around her and it was time to ask for someone to help him free Leah. He needed to keep his head steady and he also needed someone to watch his own back because he fears that Victoria might be the death of him, especially if she did manage to kill his very soul, Bella.
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Alice greeted them at the penthouse. She was wearing a brilliant smile despite the news she was about to share with them.
"I know you guys are exhausted from all of the travelings but I thought I should tell you right away about my vision." Alice begun as everyone took a seat and gave her their undivided attention.
"Go on." Edward urges her.
"Leah is alive but I fear Victoria is using her for something. I think she is trying to get her pregnant." Alice blurted out.
Jacob stood up, his fists curl up in balls by his side, a deep growl vibrated from his chest.
"Who is Leah?" Bella asks while grabbing Jacobs fist. She felt his mood shift swiftly at the announcement. Her heart fluttered nervously at the thought that this Leah was someone important to him in a romantic nature.
"Leah Clearwater. Harry's daughter." Jacob replied, his body trembled with rage at the thought of Leah being raped and abused.
"Why would your ex-girlfriend have Harry's daughter? How is she important to you?" Bella looks to Edward for an explanation since Jacob seem too rile up to answer her.
"She isn't anything to me." Edward answer, his sober eyes glanced down toward his feet.
Bella felt as if the air had been suck from her lungs. She suddenly knew that Leah was important to Jacob. No one wanted to be the one to explain it to her. She felt her cheeks burn red with embarrassment. All that time they spent together on the island not once did he mention that Leah was kidnaped by Victoria or how she plays a part in any of this. She was starting to believe there were more secrets. She wasn't sure why but this one about Leah hit her hard.
"Bella do you need a drink?" Alice steps up to help her while Jacob tried to regain focus and fix their situation.
Alice felt awful. She forgot that Bella still remains ignorant of their true origins and what all was truly involved. She gave Edward an apologetic smile as she pulled Bella into the kitchen to help soothe her pain.
"Pull it together. Bella is going to start asking some serious questions about this entire situation now. Unless you want to tell her all your secrets you need to come up with an explanation of why you seem so upset about another woman. I'm sure she fears you and Leah are romantically involved." Edward advises him.
Jacob's anger disappears instantly. He could only imagine the hurt she was feeling. He didn't want her to misunderstand his feelings for Leah. Yes, they were close and yes, they were lovers once and only once. He quickly made it clear to Leah afterward that he could never love her the way she needed and deserved. Besides being the pack leader he needed to keep all their relationships on the same level.
"Do you think she will believe any excuse I give her?" Jacob thought out loud. They both knew that Bella was smart and trying to lie to her was pointless. He respected her too much to do that. The only way he felt guiltless for not telling her about him being a wolf and the Cullens were vampires was to protect her and they were bound not to reveal the secret.
"I don't know." Edward replied honestly.
"Shit." Jacob ran his hands through his hair as he tried to prepare himself for the uncomfortable conversation.
"One way to put it." Edward chuckle but his eyes showed his understanding of the difficult situation that Jacob was now in.
"I need a few minutes to myself," Jacob announced and then left the penthouse.
Edward wonders how Jacob was going to play this off without putting himself in hot water with Bella. She was back to trusting Jacob and had been happier than Edward could have remembered seeing her in the past. He just hopes that whatever he told her she didn't bail out on them now. They were so close to accomplishing their goal and Edward, much like Jacob, was ready for this to all be over once and for all.
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"Why did Victoria take Leah?" Bella asks Alice directly.
"I...I.." Alice wasn't sure how to answer her.
"Why is she forcing her to get pregnant? None of this makes any fucking sense!" Bella cries out, gasping for air.
"Victoria is insane." Alice offered.
She knew Bella was a bright young lady and trying to bullshit her wasn't going to work.
"I gather that much." Bella snaps furiously.
"Sorry." Alice pours Bella a glass of wine and hands it to her in hopes it might soothe her nerves.
Bella took the glass and gulps it down. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand she hands it back for a refill.
Alice does her bidding and waits patiently for Jacob to come and rescue her. She isn't sure what to tell the young woman. How much of the truth was Jacob willing to share with Bella?
"Jacob and Leah are lovers aren't they?" Bella's eyes are brim filled with unshed tears as she stares into the empty glass.
"I ...I don't know their history exactly." Alice wasn't entirely lying to her.
"What did you mean by "vision"."
It suddenly occurs to Bella that Alice mentions an odd word to explain how she obtain the information that put Bella's whole world upside down.
"What?" Alice blinks her large eyes several times and takes a steady step back.
"You said, "I had a vision". What does that mean? Do you see things? How is that possible?" Bella studied small waif-like female closely.
She was starting to suspect there was so much more going on here. There were plenty of secrets being kept from her and they weren't just from Jacob. Bella felt her heart start to race, the palms of her hands were sweaty and the hair on the back of her neck stood straight up. She felt cold and sick to her stomach.
Alice noted that she was turning a pale shade of white. Her eyes water up and Alice worried she was getting ill.
"Bella are you okay?" Alice reaches out to touch her arm but Bella flinches from her touch.
"I...sorry." Alice was hurt by her reaction but not surprised.
"I don't like being lied to," Bella mumbled, panting as her stomach started churning and she knew she was about to vomit in this ridiculously expensive kitchen.
"Do you want me to …." Alice was abruptly interrupted when Bella chose that moment to pour out all the contents of her stomach on the floor and all over her expensive shoes.
"So...sorrry." Bella gagged as she continues to convulse.
"It's okay." Alice pressed her lips together and held her breath. The smell was awful and Alice was trying to figure out how to get out of her shoes without stepping into the mess. Bella vomited for five minutes straight. Alice was about to call for Edward in case she was in need of some serious medical attention.
Alice grabs a cool damp washcloth and helps Bella wipe off her face as they step out of the kitchen and away from the putrid smells.
"I need to rest." Bella groans as she allows Alice to lead her to her room. Once inside she gives Alice a stern look, closes and locks the door behind her. Climbing into the heavenly soft bed she lies in the semi darken room and softly weeps until she falls into a deep slumber.
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Jacob stared between Alice and Edward as they tried to find a way to not entirely lie to Bella but also protect her from the terrible truth of who and what they truly were.
"Are you sure she is okay?" Jacob asks as he bites his upper lip while pacing nervously.
"She seems fine. I think all the traveling and too much wine mix with the excitement just made her sick." Alice replies.
"Why did you pounce us with this information in front of her?" Jacob darted his eyes angrily at Alice.
"First of all I don't have a lot of experience with humans and keeping secrets. Secondly, I knew you would want to know the second I had it. I was scared for Leah and honestly, I just….screw up! But you had two weeks to tell Bella about Leah and what you two are." Alice took her lumps but also reminded Jacob of his part in this fiasco.
"WE are nothing. She is one of my pack. Nothing else." Jacob answer firmly.
"Yes but at some point, Leah would be brought up in a conversation. You should have prepared her for that. Actually both of you." Alice looks over at Edward who was trying his best to remain quiet and out of the conversation entirely.
"I thought this would all be over with by now. I didn't prepare for this to go on for this long." Jacob argued.
"None of us did." Edward finally spoke up.
"Well, what do we do now?" Alice sighs heavily.
"Tell me exactly what you saw." Edward requested.
"I saw Leah laying on her back and….some guy was on top of her. He had a strange tattoo on his upper back. A burning sun with waves I think. His skin color was native much like Jacobs. But I didn't see his face." Alice explains.
"I heard Victoria say something about "her own pup". I felt Leah's anguish and Victoria's pleasure." Alice shook with disgust at the memory.
"Did you see where they were?"
"Somewhere dark. There was only candle lit."
"So no electricity possibly." Edward started to consider where a vampire might take a couple she would force to have sex and yet not fear anyone hearing Leah's screams.
"Possibly."
"That could be anywhere!" Jacob growled.
"A basement, abandon cabin or hell even a cave." Edward swore.
"What do we have to do to get her to try and kill you?" Jacob demanded.
"I would have thought she would have already sent someone to try by now." Edward admitted.
"I want to know why she wants a pup of her own?" Alice chews on her fingernail as she tried to foresee Victoria's plans for Leah's baby.
"I can't imagine it's a maternal instinct." Jacob snorted.
"Plus there is no guarantee that Leah's baby will be a shifter." Jacob continues.
"Uh?" Edward and Alice both look at Jacob with a confused expression.
"It can skip a generation." Jacob states.
"Oh."
Alice starts to imagine Victoria trying to tend to a newborn when it occurs to her that she had an earlier vision of Bella pregnant by Jacob.
"Oh wow." Alice gasps.
"What?"
"I think Bella might be pregnant," Alice reveals.
Edward and Jacob both stood so still and quiet they look like living statues.
"Come again?" Edward whispers.
"HOW?" Jacob practically shouted.
"I think we both know the how? I was on the island with you two." Edward snorts rudely.
"I know how? But we were both careful. I brought precautions." Jacob explained.
"Nothing is a hundred percent." Alice rolled her eyes at his ignorance.
"Yes...but….Ohhhh crap." Jacob suddenly recalls their first night together. They didn't discuss birth control. He brought condoms for the honeymoon but didn't think about the night before the wedding.
"What does this have to do with Leah and Victoria wanting her baby?"
"Everything. If Jacob is right and the shifter gene skips a generation then what happens to Leah or the baby if Victoria doesn't get what she wants? She might come after Bella's baby. You are an Alpha and the odds are more favorable for your children to have the gene." Alice explained while working out a possible theory.
"Yes but she thinks Bella is married to Edward, not me. How would she know that Bella's baby is mine?" Jacob scowled at the stupidity of the theory.
"Imagine if it got back to her that Edwards new bride wanted a baby before he changes her and Edward got you to do it for him." Alice knew she was reaching hard with this crazy theory but she couldn't shake the connection between Bella's sudden pregnancy and Victoria wanting Leah's baby.
"I don't know." Edward felt uneasy using Bella's unborn child as bait. If Victoria wanted a baby that badly he fears just how ruthless she might become in obtaining Bella's child.
"I agree. It's best we keep Bella's pregnancy a secret from her and the rest of the world." Jacob felt his heart hammer painfully in his chest.
He was not going to risk that crazy bitch to get his child or kill Bella in order to do it.
"What about Leah? What happens to her?" Alice's voice broke up as her heart shredded at the thought of what Leah must be experiencing day after day.
"Time to call in some help." Edward slams his fist down on the side table. He wanted to kill Victoria quietly but now he knew he had no choice but to call in some favors from some other vampires to help. If he was lucky he would keep the others from learning just who and what Jacob and his pack were capable of. The Volturi would definitely want to investigate if they fear in the slightest that they were a possible threat to them and any of the vampire race.
"I will make the call. In the meantime, you need to talk to Bella and assure her she can trust you and all of us if we are to keep her safe Jacob." Alice pats Jacob on the arm before leaving the room.
"Are you going to be okay?" Edward knew Jacob was stun about the news of his child. He was trying to busy his thoughts with protecting everyone that he was trying to not freak out about it.
"I think so." Jacob smiles but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"It will all work out. It always does." Edward hoped to reassure him but he too fears what all could go wrong now that Bella was carrying a baby.
Both of them understood one thing for sure, keep Bella alive and safe at all costs.
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A/N: Well, I got these fake nails earlier in the week and it's been a pain to try and type. Got to get them shorter an fast. LOL Hope you enjoy the chapter and will have another out soon. oxox August